No chance for state of Palestine while the expansion continues

Colin Rubenstein (Letters, December 6) from the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council states that settlements ''take up less than 2 per cent of West Bank land''.

The settlements themselves, plus the no-go zone of a kilometre or more for Palestinians surrounding each settlement and settlers-only highways, plus the land taken by the wall which encroached on 9.5 per cent of the West Bank, plus all the ''Area C'' controlled by Israel under the Oslo Accord, plus the closed military zone of the Jordan valley corridor means that Palestinians now have just 54 per cent of the land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Most of the remaining land the Palestinians do control in the West Bank is in isolated sections or ''Bantustans'', like islands separated from each other, and access from one Palestinian section to another is controlled by Israeli military checkpoints.

If Israel is serious about peace, there has to be a two-state solution, and continuing to build illegal settlements prevents any state for the Palestinians.

Peter Jennings Marrickville

Does Colin Rubenstein really think settlements are in the best interest of Israel? Rubenstein's myopic view of settlements (by limiting analysis only to the immediate area state sanctioned settlements are built on and ignoring the impact this has on Palestinian daily life) means he misses the forest among the trees.

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The Israeli peace activist Jeff Halper has said for more than a decade that Israeli settlements create a matrix of control that are strategically located so as to disrupt any possible viable Palestinian state. A defiant Benjamin Netanyahu said as much last week: ''We will carry on building in Jerusalem and in all the places that are on the map of Israel's strategic interests.'' This policy is nothing new. Thirty years ago, the co-chairman of the World Zionist Organisation's settlement department, Matityahu Drobless, said ''The disposition of the settlements must be carried out not only around the settlements of the minorities [Arabs], but also in between them''.

The clock is ticking, Colin. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has said Israel's announcement on further settlements ''would represent an almost fatal blow to remaining chances of securing a two-state solution''. There are 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Either Israel must allow Palestinians to have a viable state and remove settlements or face the criticisms that it has created a system of outright apartheid, an untenable option in the long run.

Stewart Mills Balmain

Might I suggest your correspondent Arthur Cooper (Letters, December 6) look at the freely available hateful propaganda, against Israel and the world's Jews, taught in Hamas schools. Perhaps then, he would understand the concerns of George Fishman and Paul Winter.

John Temple Rose Bay

Since 2006, when Israel imposed it's ''closure'' of Gaza, an average of only 67 food supply trucks have been allowed to enter each day, despite Israel's own health ministry determining that 170 trucks a day would be required to prevent widespread starvation. The idea was to put Palestinians on a ''diet'' of 2279 calories a day. In 2008 the International Committee of the Red Cross found that chronic starvation was rising amid the 1.6 million Gazans. But how many Israelis have died from malnutrition in the past six years?

Cathy Peters Enmore

Gurrumul episode all too common

Racism has many forms. The refusal of a taxi driver to take in the indigenous Australian singer Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu is one very common form (''Racism blamed after Gurrumul denied cab'', December 6).

It is a shameful form, as is every other form of racism. Racism is racism.

Rajend Naidu Glenfield

I can entirely empathise with Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu's situation in coming face to face with the passenger-quality barometer of some taxi drivers, because I too have endured it, though not for racist motives.

The taxi ageist/locality meters, late at night, usually prove to be even more lethal than the money meters.

I've been told drivers believe mature-age sheilas waving them down in George Street after midnight not only live way out to buggery, which means they can't easily get back for the dozens of lucrative city short hauls, but, even worse than that, they don't tip.

I can't do much about the former, and the latter often finds me overcompensating, like some nocturnal Gina Rinehart, mainly to disprove this annoyingly prejudiced mindset.

Occasionally I tell them, after they grudgingly allow me inside their vehicle, ''Look, we might appear to be boring old sods, but we won't knife you, do a runner, or spew in your back seat.''

Rosemary O'Brien Georges Hall

An Australian Aborigine is denied transport in a taxi by an Indian/Pakistani and we are held up as a racist nation?

South-east Asia, are you reporting all this?

Will there be street marches and shouting?

Richard Lynch Waterloo

Again, I am sorry I don't live in Melbourne. I would be very happy to give a lift to Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu anywhere he'd want to go. His girlfriend and manager at the back, it would be my pleasure and privilege if Gurrumul sat at the front and he wouldn't even have to sing in French.

Philippe Marie-Sainte Tempe

Swan should practise what he preaches

Wayne Swan says big banks shouldn't be taking their customers for a ride (''Breathe easy: low rates set to linger'', December 6). They should be passing on the full interest rate cuts to their customers. However Swan's government hasn't passed on any of these cuts to the deeming rate for pensioners and part-pensioners. Talk about hypocrisy. He is only intent on achieving a surplus at the expense of his poorest customers. A lift in pensions could help to improve the economy because this section of the community has to spend all of what it receives to survive.

Here's another way Australian banks short-change their customers. My wife's superannuation is paid into our American account on the very day it is due, even on weekends and public holidays. Mine is paid into our Australian account, but only on the next working day, often a Monday. Guess who has access to my money on those holidays?

Bruce Ryan Kiama

Hopes raised by young views

As the O'Farrell government systematically unravels decades of hard-fought wins in battles for environmental protection of our natural heritage, it was somewhat heartening to read Brittany Ruppert's column (''Big issues and Gen Y don't seem to click'', December 6).

Well done, Brittany. At least there is one young budding journalist who cares about the apparent lack of political engagement in issues that matter for all our futures - young and old.

Carolyn Pettigrew Turramurra

Where is the generation gap? Is it not the job of the young to fix the world and parents to worry about the economy? Given "abundance of communication", perhaps it's more of a worry for Gen Y to indulge in an 'i' lifestyle. Yep, "cool" students with an iPhone in one ear and iPad in the other, hoping to get their 15MB of fame by ratting on a leftie lecturer, and there you have it: youth activism stifled by home-pressed shirts and affordable iWhatever.

Terry Simpson Point Clare

Ticks not enough

There is something missing from the ethics versus scripture debate (Letters, December 6). Fierce anti-religionists need to understand that there is far more to religion than the black-and-white dogma presented by the likes of the dour-faced Jensen, Pell and Nile trio, and the in-bed-with-the-politicians mega-churches.

The early 20th-century German historian Rudolf Otto believed that the sense of the numinous was basic to religion, and that it was the desire to explore the unseen, the mysterious, that lay the foundation for religion. This desire came first, before the need to explain the origin of the world or construct a foundation for ethical behaviour.

Children are naturally drawn to the mystery of life, and for the lucky ones, a good teacher of religion will nourish this love with the beautiful stories of our religious traditions, along with the art, poetry and music that go with them.

So perhaps parents need a bit more than mere tick-boxes when asked to choose religion or no religion. Religious teachers could be asked to present a profile of themselves, and what they will do in the classroom, so that parents know whether it is indoctrination or exploration on offer.

And ethics lessons should be for all children, not something special for ''atheists''.

Christine McNeil Mullumbimby

Why on earth … ?

As Voyager 1 and 2 hurtle to the very peripheries and beyond the infinitesimal solar system they carry a message embedded in a gold-plated copper disc, a greeting to anyone or thing that stumbles upon our interstellar travellers. I fail to see the enticement for any sentient celestials to visit our solar speck should they have an inkling to what is really unfolding here.

What possible conclusion could be drawn to visions of brother against brother, hate perpetuating hate, building arsenal against arsenal, and a planet slowly dying at the hands of its custodians? A gold-plated copper disc would be most appropriate to reaffirming that all that glitters is not gold.

If Voyager 1 and 2 deliver a message to any hapless extraterrestrial it should be to give Earth a wide berth.

Whatever happened to the Coalition's promise as part of making ''NSW No. 1 again''?

Ironically, the Auditor-General's report shows that one area where service quality did improve in 2011-12 was Sydney Ferries: patronage, vessel reliability and on-time running were all up, reportable incidents, passenger injuries, complaints and sick days were all down.

The O'Farrell government's response to this success story? Privatise the service. It is a pity it is not as proactive in fixing the things that actually need fixing.

Doug Walker Baulkham Hills

Challenged parents try their best

Helicopter parents, tiger parents, hands-on parents, active parents, absent parents, single parents, older parents, working parents, concerned parents, part-time parents, abusive parents and violent parents are all descriptions unilaterally used to delineate different parenting styles (''Move over tiger mum, make way for the better breed of a hands-on hawk'', December 6).

Whatever category of parent many fall into, it will invariably (according to our children) be ''wrong''.

With many parents holding down two jobs and time at a premium, cuts need to be made often in productivity and quality. Decisions are made on ''the run'' with consultation minimised from lack of sleep and physical contact. Personal interests are thwarted and ''put on hold'' while dissatisfaction can soar exponentially.

As parents continue to read of changing trends and guilt raises its ugly head, many may choose to fold and agree with the following generation that everything they decided was ''wrong'' or inadequate.

Or maybe it is time to take a stand and take back the rights of a parent - to make decisions and value judgments for what seemed correct at the time and stand by them no matter the consequences. Hindsight is a valuable tool in the mop-up after any battle.

In the cold light of parenting, as many discover themselves as grandparents, it is necessary to remember that the vast majority of parents tried their very best for the next generation and often under very difficult circumstances and where sacrifices were made to build a better future.

Janice Creenaune Austinmer

Byron Bay streets could use KFC

I do not live in Byron Bay but I visit it regularly to dine and shop. I am bemused by its council's determination to maintain the town's ''purity'' and ''uniqueness'', which seems to fly in the face of economic reality - it appears desperately short of money (''Byron Bay turns up its nose at KFC'', December 6).

I know of no other towns whose streets away from the main business area are so badly in need of repair and have been for 12 years I have been living in the area. Perhaps the council needs a reality check.

Arthur Cooper Alstonville

Rinehart wisdom

Gina, instead of us not taking holidays, I have a better idea (''Don't spend what's not yours: Rinehart'', smh.com.au, December 6). How about when you dig up resources that belong to all of us, you pay us for them, rather than keep the vast majority of our profit for yourself. That way we all get the benefit.

Roger Clark Five Dock

Dumping on Ten

''Fresh raising piles pressure on Ten board'' (December 6). Great headline. Wonderful pun, intentional or otherwise. However, if true, the Ten boardroom toilets must be packed with members having yet another reason to groan after a lengthy sitting.

Foveaux Kirby Cooks Hill

How to avoid a royal dispute

If the British are going to vary the Act of Settlement to allow the first born heir of either gender of the reigning monarch to succeed to the throne, why not also allow twin children to job share the monarchy. This might eliminate unnecessary and possibly bloody disputes regarding the order of birth. And they could open fetes and attend race meetings at different ends of the country at the same time.

Tom Kelly Balmain

At least the announcement of Kate Middleton's baby has given the women's magazine editors an early Chrissie pressie.

Jenolan Caves is part of a world heritage national park and is unique in being the oldest open caves system in the world. When it was gazetted as a public reserve in the 1800s it was Australia's first protected environmental area. Jenolan Caves is a very special place to Australians and all O'Farrell can see are dollars and cents. How long before all of our national parks are sold to the highest bidder or completely alienated either by shooters, cattlemen or business interests?